X-Message-Number: 17907
From: "Pat Clancy" <>
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 10:37:14 -0800
Subject: Re: More on uncaused events and something from nothing

> >This is often justified based on the idea of a sort of gigantic quantum 
> >fluctuation. 
> 
> What is a gigantic quantum fluctuation?  
> 

Well, note that I said "sort of..." :-) I believe this is based on the idea of 
"quantum foam", which is supposed to be what space-time looks like at the 
smallest scale. This foam is constantly giving rise to the creation of virtual 
particles/anti-pariticles, that are then usually quickly (_very_ quickly) re-
absorbed into the foam (so to speak). (This virtual particle creation has been 

verified experimentally.) Well, if there's a pre-existing Void, which is purely
vacuum energy, then if you wait long enough there could be the spontaneous 
creation of a universe-sized clump of energy.

As a variation on this, some physicists believe that baby universes are 
constantly being created in the quantum foam, and these may be attached 
to our universe by a tiny wormhole, or perhaps they break off altogether after 
being born. But the birth of one of these baby universes would constitute its 
Big Bang.

Pat Clancy

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